Cavendish joins the Tour de France elite

When Mark Cavendish raised his arms in victory and crossed the finish line ahead of his rivals on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday, he joined the elite list of prolific Tour de France winners.

Cavendish’s career total of 10 Tour stage wins – six stage wins in 2009 coupled with four in the 2008 Tour – means that his name is included in an exclusive roll call of all-time cycling greats.

To really appreciate how far Cavendish has come in such a short amount of time you only have to see the names of riders who also won 10 stages in their career – Henri Pelissier, Charly Gaul, Jan Raas and Walter Godefroot are all names etched into the Tour’s long history. In two years, Cavendish has matched them.

Just two more Tour stage wins, to bring his total to 12, would mean Cavendish equals the likes of Miguel Indurain, Mario Cipollini, Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel.

In terms of total Tour stage wins, Cavendish still has a way to go to match that of Eddy Merckx, who won an astonishing 34 stages between 1969 and 1975 – of course, he also won the race five times along the way.

Cavendish also scores highly in terms of stage wins in one given Tour, only 13 riders have ever won six or more stages in one go – and only five riders have won more than six stages in one year. Freddy Maertens was the last rider to win eight stages, in 1976.

It’s early days yet for Cavendish. He should have a long and successful career in front of him, giving him the opportunity to add his name to the very top of the Tour’s roll of honour.

Record number of Tour de France wins (individual)34 stage winsEddy Merckx (Belgium) 1969-1975